Poor Richard's Playground

Before this land became a space for recreation, it was part of a sprawling farm owned by the descendants of Captain Johannes Benson, a settler who arrived in the area in sixteen ninety-six. For over two centuries, a waterway known as Harlem Creek flowed through what is now this block, serving as a vital resource for local farmers until the city expanded northward and buried the creek beneath urban development. By the mid-twentieth century, the site was occupied by a dense mix of brick tenements and small businesses, including a local undertaker, a print shop, and a furniture store.